State drops charges against former Dixon comptroller

Wed, 01 May 2013 05:39:12 CDTBy: AP

Prosecutors have dropped state charges against former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, who has already admitted in federal court that she stole nearly $54 million in public money. Lee County State's Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller dropped the 60 counts of felony theft during a hearing Tuesday in Lee County Circuit Court. Crundwell was sentenced in federal court in February to nearly 20 years in prison. Her attorney in the state case had argued that subjecting her to another trial could amount to double jeopardy.

For more than two decades, Crundwell siphoned off millions from the small northern Illinois city of Dixon. She spent the money on her nationally renowned horse-breeding operation and her lavish lifestyle.